Tasmanian Youth Prove Devils to Recruit

Nielsen has postponed the launch of its radio ratings service in Tasmania, Australia - reportedly less than 24 hours before results were due - citing problems with sample.

According to newspaper www.theaustralian.com.au , the audience research giant surveyed respondents in the greater Hobart area for nine weeks from September to November, but found it hard to recruit younger listeners and decided that older generations were over-represented in the data it had.

Head of Australia and New Zealand media Peter Cornelius said the postponement was in the nature of random sampling: 'It's not unique to this survey - it's symptomatic of research generally' - and that survey firms often had trouble with random sampling of younger demographic audiences. Cornelius said Nielsen had over-sampled the difficult groups but still not had enough response, and expressed the hope that the commercial networks and ABC would commission further sampling.

Reactions from clients was mixed, some expressing understanding and others less sympathetic, particularly given the perceived last-minute nature of the announcement. The Australian says the Hobart market had lobbied heavily for the introduction of these ratings in recent years.

Web site: www.nielsen.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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